I had the pleasure of being the photographer that handled our Maternity Photo Shoot, though I have to say the stunning subject made my job especially easy. Enjoy! The full gallery is linked above, and a selection of images are embedded here as well.

I had only been working at Apple for a few months when another group of new hires came on board in the fall of 2010. I was excited that I wouldn’t be in the group of “new kids” anymore. I would actually be experienced compared to someone. They were all joining the sales part of the store except for one, Jesse. We had a new Genius go through training with my group, so I didn’t pay much attention to another one. By mid-September, both Jesse and I were in and out of the store each day without much notice of each other. I recall having a brief conversation with him in the back one day, just telling him a little about the Birmingham area. I quickly took a liking to him and decided he was going to be one of my favorite Geniuses. I would go to him with questions or problems because I knew he wouldn’t turn me away or make me feel stupid.

In the middle of October, Jesse invited me to go hiking with him and a few other people on Ruffner Mountain here in Birmingham. It caught me a bit off guard because other than becoming friends on Facebook, we had never interacted outside of the store. My parents were visiting on the day he had asked about, so I declined the invitation. Being a girl, though, I read into his question and wondered if he liked me…

That fall and winter, I often worked the early shift at the store, letting in employees and handling the customers who arrived before we opened. After returning from training in California, Jesse frequently worked the opening Genius shift. I would open the door for him each morning and greet him with a smile. Every time our eyes locked, it was like I could see into his heart a little. There was something he wasn’t saying. In November, I stumbled onto a poem he wrote and posted on Facebook. It was just simply written “to someone.” It described a scene of two people, one with a smile that warmed the heart of the other, but the one couldn’t bring himself to tell her. Knowing what our morning interactions looked like, I couldn’t help but wonder again if he had any interest in me…

In late November, Jesse reached out to me again. He invited me to go see the newest Harry Potter movie with some other people. I agreed initially. Something about him intrigued me, and I wanted to know more. We chatted for a while through Facebook messages. His vocabulary was huge and the conversation teetered at the edge of going over my head. I wasn’t sure I could handle such an intellectual. Turns out everyone else cancelled for the movie, leaving just the two of us. Scared and vowing not to date a co-worker, I panicked and cancelled on him.

I guess I was too harsh and pushed him away for a while. I didn’t interact with him outside of work until February, when I reached out to him. At that point, I had moved to a position in his part of the store, so we saw each other at work a bit more often. We had talked photography before, so I started the Facebook conversation again from that angle. We kept things as professional as possible but still friendly. I was dating someone and didn’t want to be unfaithful to him. Something about Jesse drew me in, though. I struggled with my curiosity in him and my promise to not get involved.

We finally met outside of work in March for a photo shoot. He needed practice to get back in the swing of photographing people, and I’ll always smile for the camera. We met at a park down in Alabaster, about 30 minutes south of Birmingham. I kept trying to flirt with him during the hour or so we spent there, but he kept it purely professional. After shutting him down so hard before, I hadn’t given him any reason to think I had any interest.

We went back and forth for the next few months, half-flirting and then I would shut him down. Any reasonable guy would have walked away and not looked back after putting up with so much from me. When my relationship came to an end in May, though, he was still willing to give me a chance. He told me whenever I was over the break up and ready to date, he wanted to take me to dinner. We met a couple days later after he got off work with no plans other than to just enjoy each other’s company. A week later, he took me out to dinner.

Emily grew up in Carmel, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis. She found her way to Birmingham to attend Samford University and came with the dream of working for Southern Living magazine after graduating. She earned her journalism degree summa cum laude and worked as editor-in-chief of the student newspaper and art director of the magazine. Surrounded by friends and a church she loved, Emily opted to stay in Birmingham after graduation. She took a part-time position with Apple while working a part-time internship with mental_floss magazine in 2010. Deciding that the magazine world wasn’t for her, she left mental_floss and moved into the role of a Creative, a full-time teacher for Apple. She is still there teaching novices and experts how to get the most out of their Mac. In the future, Emily hopes to get her master’s degree in education and teach high school English, literature, journalism, and theatre.

Jesse is from the Columbus, Georgia, area. After working for several years in the information technology world, he decided he was ready for a change of scenery. Persuaded by his parents, he headed up to the Birmingham area to see what it had to offer. Apple hired him and sent him straight to the role of Genius, offering troubleshooting and repairs to Mac owners. Within six months, he had moved up to the Lead Genius position and became responsible for the team of technicians at the store. After seeking something with more predictable and stable hours, he recently took a position with FIS Global as a network analyst. This May he is graduating from Columbus State University with a degree in sociology with a minor in psychology. Down the road, he wants to pursue a master’s degree and ultimately a doctorate in sociology as well.

Our future home will be at 6155 North Clubview Circle, Bessemer, Alabama.